Added: March 1, 2018
Usually classic 3-reels pokies are simple affairs. But Rival Gaming has launched a few such pokies that give the best video pokies a run for their money. Two of them are reviewed here. They are live at Australian online casinos like Ignition Casino and Joe Fortune.
Costume Party is an online pokie like no other. The three reels consist of the heads, torsos and legs of various guests attending the costume party. The reels spin sideways and the paylines appear vertically. When the reels stop spinning each payline has a head, torso and legs. If all three belong to the same character then a winning combination is formed and will pay out according to the payout table. In the win animations the complete characters break into a dance. Costume Party has a wild symbol, which is a gorilla torso. It appears only on the central reel. When this happens and the head and legs match then a winning combination is formed.
The costumes include chicken, nurse, cowboy, superhero, knight, astronaut, witch and monster. You can activate up to three paylines and wager up to three coins. At the lower end, the chicken has a payout multiplier of 10x. The monster awards the highest line payout of 1800x. The coin dimension varies from AU$0.01 to AU$5. The maximum bet per spin with three coins and three payline is AU$45, which is above par for a classic pokie.
The other classic online pokie being recommended is Heroes' Realm. It has an introductory clip, as in Rival Gaming video pokies, which reveals the theme. The artwork recreates a medieval castle in minute detail. The online pokie has a single payline, but compensates by including exciting bonus features. Most of the symbols are the medieval weapons of hand to hand combat and a magic vial and a treasure chest as well. Most of the symbols pay only when they appear on all three reels. The battle axe also pays when two are aligned from left to right. The treasure chest acts like a scatter symbol and pays when one or more appear on any of the reels.
Two crossed knives symbols trigger 10 free spins and three crossed knives symbols trigger 50 free spins. But it is the bonus game on the second screen that is the more interesting feature. You have to select either the male hero or the female hero. Both are attired in typical medieval war outfits. Five enemies are hiding in the castle courtyard. You have to ferret them so that they can be slain by the chosen hero. You win random credits for each enemy killed. The coin size varies from AU$0.01 to AU$10.00. Players can wager up to three coins.
